A brief commentary on cost-effectiveness analysis in radiologic research.
OBJECTIVE
This commentary provides a brief overview of cost-effectiveness analysis, which is increasingly applied in radiologic research. The purpose is to familiarize readers with the basic concepts in this topic and to provide help in appraising original articles in this area of research, as featured in this issue of the AJR.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite some limitations, decision-analytic modeling provides a useful tool for cost-effectiveness analysis in emerging technologies and helps to direct future research and the practice of radiology.
Poon
Colin S
CS
Department of Radiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 E Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210, USA. poonc@upstate.edu
D001365:Axilla / Q000473:pathology; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008220:Lymphography / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011871:Radiology / Q000191:economics; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*